PUBLICATION
Completing the set of h/E(spl) cyclic genes in zebrafish: her12 and her15 reveal novel modes of expression and contribute to the segmentation clock
- Authors
- Shankaran, S.S., Sieger, D., Schroter, C., Czepe, C., Pauly, M.C., Laplante, M.A., Becker, T.S., Oates, A.C., and Gajewski, M.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-070212-27
- Date
- 2007
- Source
- Developmental Biology 304(2): 615-632 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Becker, Thomas S., Gajewski, Martin, Laplante, Mary, Oates, Andrew, Shankaran, Sunita Sathy, Sieger, Dirk
- Keywords
- Cyclic h/E(spl) genes, Segmentation clock, Somitogenesis, bHLH transcription factor
- MeSH Terms
-
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/biosynthesis
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/genetics
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/physiology*
- Biological Clocks
- Body Patterning
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Genome
- Mesoderm/metabolism
- Molecular Sequence Data
- RNA, Messenger/biosynthesis
- Repressor Proteins/biosynthesis
- Repressor Proteins/genetics
- Repressor Proteins/physiology*
- Zebrafish/embryology
- Zebrafish/metabolism
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- Zebrafish Proteins/biosynthesis
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- Zebrafish Proteins/physiology*
- PubMed
- 17274976 Full text @ Dev. Biol.
Citation
Shankaran, S.S., Sieger, D., Schroter, C., Czepe, C., Pauly, M.C., Laplante, M.A., Becker, T.S., Oates, A.C., and Gajewski, M. (2007) Completing the set of h/E(spl) cyclic genes in zebrafish: her12 and her15 reveal novel modes of expression and contribute to the segmentation clock. Developmental Biology. 304(2):615-632.
Abstract
Somitogenesis is the key developmental process that lays down the framework for a metameric body in vertebrates. Somites are generated from the un-segmented presomitic mesoderm (PSM) by a pre-patterning process driven by a molecular oscillator termed the segmentation clock. The Delta-Notch intercellular signaling pathway and genes belonging to the hairy (h) and Enhancer of split (E(spl))-related (h/E(spl)) family of transcriptional repressors are conserved components of this oscillator. A subset of these genes, called cyclic genes, is characterized by oscillating mRNA expression that sweeps anteriorly like a wave through the embryonic PSM. Periodic transcriptional repression by H/E(spl) proteins is thought to provide a critical part of a negative feedback loop in the oscillatory process, but it is an open question how many cyclic h/E(spl) genes are involved in the somitogenesis clock in any species, and what distinct roles they might play. From a genome-wide search for h/E(spl) genes in the zebrafish, we previously estimated a total of five cyclic members. Here we report that one of these, the mHes5 homologue her15 actually exists as a very recently duplicated gene pair. We investigate the expression of this gene pair and analyse its regulation and activity in comparison to the paralogous her12 gene, and the other cyclic h/E(spl) genes in the zebrafish. The her15 gene pair and her12 display novel and distinct expression features, including a caudally restricted oscillatory domain and dynamic stripes of expression in the rostral PSM that occur at the future segmental borders. her15 expression stripes demarcate a unique two-segment interval in the rostral PSM. Mutant, morpholino, and inhibitor studies show that her12 and her15 expression in the PSM is regulated by Delta-Notch signaling in a complex manner, and is dependent on her7, but not her1 function. Morpholino-mediated her12 knockdown disrupts cyclic gene expression, indicating that it is a non-redundant core component of the segmentation clock. Over-expression of her12, her15 or her7 disrupts cyclic gene expression and somite border formation, and structure function analysis of Her7 indicates that DNA binding, but not Groucho-recruitment seems to be important in this process. Thus, the zebrafish has five functional cyclic h/E(spl) genes, which are expressed in a distinct spatial configuration. We propose that this creates a segmentation oscillator that varies in biochemical composition depending on position in the PSM.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping